The Free Counties

North of the Black Ash River, lie the remnants of the Aetherion Kingdom. The largest kingdom in the history of the Green Coast before the rise of the hobgoblins collapsed more than one hundred fifty years ago, and the twelve southernmost counts managed to maintain control over their lands. The twelve noble families continually scheme and plot against one another, only to join forces the second an outside force threatens one of them.

A Brief History

At its peak two hundred years ago, the Aetherion Kingdom stretched from the Narrow Passage separating Sylvanor from the Green Coast all the way down to the Black Ash River. Nearly one hundred counts oversaw the lands in the kingdom, until they were assassinated. The exact perpetrators are unknown, for no group has ever claimed responsibility, but in the span of three months all counts and their families were slain to the last child as was the royal line.

     Most of the counties just had the one noble family overseeing the entire county, with regional governance being overseen by a Regional Mayor chosen from the town mayors in the region. When the counts were slain, the infrastructure collapsed as Regional Mayors only handled basic day to day governance with anything large being sent to the counts. In the southern counties the frequent trade with Argoport and Chor Kolav meant that locals couldn’t afford to simply pass everything up the chain of command. Thus each of these counties had people in place to fill the void left by the death of the count and his family.

     In the wake of the kingdom’s fall, an untold number of warlords arose to try to fill the power vacuum. For a time, these warlords were successful in the north before they chose to turn their gaze on the rich lands along the Black Ash River. The new counts had spent the decades consolidating their power, trying to reach stability within their county and gain power over their fellow counts. When a horde of brigands and bandits under the leadership of Arthrain “The Butcher” Yorv attacked the county of Lynshyr however, none of the bandits expected to be met by an army of soldiers from the twelve counties standing side by side.

     This basic pattern continues to this day, the counts scheme against one another in an attempt to gain power and territory from their fellows while uniting against any outside threat. The closest that the Free Counties have come to all out war was roughly twenty five years ago after the death of Count Jeorg Lyndale at the hands of his eldest son Edan. The younger son, Byron, drove off Edan only to himself be driven south by the machinations of Count Vorg Kanshyr. With the aid of Trade Prince Nostriano and the mercenary Sadik Blackblade, Byron regained his holding almost seventeen years ago.

Politics and Promises

The nobility of the Free Counties engage in politics with fervor akin to that of gnomes and archaeology. Every move a noble makes is watched and measured. Any sign of weakness is used against them. Despite the cutthroat nature of the political maneuvering, assassination is rarely utilized. On occasion a duel will be issued and end in death, but such instances are rare and end up backfiring on the victorious noble. Winning a duel by killing the opposing noble is seen as crude and base.

     Such attitudes do not however extend to those outside the nobility. Guards, maids, servants, all are seen as pawns to be moved on a chess board. Should a servant or a guard die as a result of a noble’s maneuvering, most of the nobility wouldn’t care.

Ranks of Nobility

While each count has at a minimum of ten smaller noble houses serving under him, the ranks of nobility generally can be treated as ruling and serving. The house of the count rules over all others in a given county while the remaining houses engage in smaller scale political maneuvering. Some nobles take their house as a second name, while others prefer to state that they belong to their house. More a matter of personal preference, the latter form has been falling out of fashion in recent decades.

     The twelve ruling houses are a mix of human, halfling, dwarf, and gnome with smaller numbers of elves, half-elves, and half-orcs. Houses Lyndale, Sofolk, and Blackbrooke all possess human heads, with the oldest being Ezekiel Blackbrooke at 76 and the youngest being Marcus Sofolk at 43. Houses Lanshyr, Salsdale, Zecland, and Hertfyld are all headed by halflings (Karius, Abelech, Denna, and Manthelir respectively) while houses Cryvdale and Crestford are headed by dwarves (Zoland, the oldest of the ruling counts, and Olinor). The houses Arden and Westbrooke are headed by the gnomes Agrippa and Titus while the house of Kanshyr is the only noble house in the Free Counties with a half-orc as its head.

Adventure Hooks

     A gala is being held by Count Dalyn Kanshyr, and you have been hired by Count Agrippa of House Arden to find evidence of the count’s eldest son being engaged in a dalliance outside of his engagement to Count Sofolk’s daughter.

     Count Zoland Cryvdale has hired countless adventurers and mercenaries to search for a person that may not exist: the last surviving member of the Aetherion line.

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